"Global Entrepreneurship Report": Armenia ranks first in "Eastern Europe+" group
YEREVAN, June 30. /ARKA/. In 2024, Armenia demonstrated a high level of entrepreneurship, ranking first in the "Eastern Europe+" group and 5th among 51 countries in the "Global Entrepreneurship Report".
Key points
"Respect for entrepreneurs in society and positive feedback in the media remain high. Need remains the main motivation for entrepreneurship, but the desire to accumulate wealth has increased significantly, especially among young people and urban residents," the report says.
It is noted that 44% of all startups and 53% of established businesses in Armenia are individual entrepreneurs. At the same time, women's entrepreneurship, unlike men's, is relatively underdeveloped.
"Among the indicators characterizing the entrepreneurial environment, business education received the lowest rating from experts. The use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence is still at a low level, especially among established enterprises," the report says.
Relevance of the report
"The presentation of this report is particularly timely: it provides an objective and comprehensive assessment of the state of entrepreneurship in Armenia and compares our progress in a global context," said Deputy Prime Minister of Armenia Mher Grigoryan in a statement read out at the presentation.
Entrepreneurship in Armenia requires a broader approach
"The results of the report clearly show that entrepreneurship in Armenia requires a broader policy vision that goes beyond financial support and focuses on education, digital inclusion, and structural incentives that promote business scaling, innovation, and long-term survival," said Tigran Jrbashyan, Director of Management Consulting at Ameria and Head of the Global Entrepreneurship Report National Team, commenting on the report.
He said that the survey was conducted in April-June 2024, involving more than 2,000 residents of Armenia and 37 experts.
"The results are quite interesting, because we had the opportunity to compare both with our results from 2019 and with global data. This survey is conducted simultaneously throughout the world, using the same methodology, which is very important for us, because you have completely comparable data. It must be said that our society has a fairly high entrepreneurial orientation compared to other countries," Jrbashyan said.
According to him, this indicator is very interesting, especially considering that residents of the former Soviet Union countries always show a rather low interest in entrepreneurship.
"It must be said that, of course, this indicator has decreased compared to 2019. The reason was that after the 2018 revolution, there were much more romantic ideas about the future. Later, unfortunately, all the crises that our country experienced led to a weakening of this trend," Jrbashyan said.
Problems of Armenian business
At the same time, he noted problems, especially in terms of gender participation.
"According to this indicator, we occupy quite low positions even compared to Islamic countries, where, as a rule, women play a significantly modest role in entrepreneurship. There are problems with geographic inequality, because, basically, entrepreneurship is concentrated in Yerevan," Jrbashyan said.
According to him, this is also confirmed by the results of another study that agriculture is becoming less attractive, and entrepreneurship is moving to regional cities.
"Our research, as a rule, is also aimed at "breaking the distorting mirrors" that surround us. We very often make decisions or express opinions based on stereotypes. One of the primary problems is the level of our entrepreneurship, competencies and education," Jrbashyan said.
He named the insufficient use of various types of digital tools as another serious problem.
"At best, this is Facebook, Instagram, but the world is much wider, more diverse, for example, artificial intelligence. However, our entrepreneurs see this tool only as an opportunity to increase income, while in the world, AI is primarily aimed at reducing costs," Jrbashyan said.
He emphasized that the purpose of the study of the Armenian entrepreneurship sector is to create a basis for the formation of appropriate strategies and public policies that should be aimed at overcoming these problems.
Improving indicators
Jrbashyan also noted that some indicators have improved compared to the 2019 report. "In 2019, perhaps based on romantic ideas, we overestimated our abilities and competencies. Now, it seems, the situation is much clearer," said Jrbashyan.
He noted that the trend of internationalization in entrepreneurship has increased.
"We have clearly understood that the small size of our domestic market, which may not have been so obvious in 2019, limits further growth. The number of entrepreneurs who are seeking to go abroad, to foreign markets, has increased significantly. I think it is very important that more new businesses are being created, many young people are coming. I think that this rejuvenation creates the basis for the future," said Jrbashyan, attaching importance to the frequency of such studies.
"Global Entrepreneurship Report Armenia 2024/2025"
The presentation of the "Global Entrepreneurship Report Armenia 2024/2025" took place on June 27 in Yerevan. This is one of the most prestigious and comprehensive research platforms in the field of entrepreneurship, which has been annually collecting and presenting more than 500 indicators since 1999, summarizing complex data and analysis from more than 100 countries around the world. Thus, the report reveals entrepreneurship development trends, existing problems, as well as the potential of entrepreneurial ecosystems at the local and global levels.
Armenia is participating in this prestigious initiative for the second time. The first time was in 2019, when 49 countries joined the report. In 2024, 51 countries took part in compiling the Global Entrepreneurship Report. These include a number of developing countries - Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus, Egypt, Jordan, as well as countries with developed economies - the USA, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Austria, Norway and others.
This year, as in 2019, the publication "Global Entrepreneurship Report Armenia 2024/2025" was prepared by the consulting service "Ameria", which is the Armenian partner of the "Global Entrepreneurship Report".
Armenia's participation in the study "Global Entrepreneurship Report 2024/2025" makes it possible to conduct meaningful comparisons both between the results of the National Report of Armenia 2019 and between different countries, including the countries of the "Eastern Europe +" group, where Armenia is included on the basis of regional affiliation.
The Global Entrepreneurship Report 2024/2025 survey included more than 161,000 adult respondents from 51 participating countries and more than 2,400 industry experts from 56 countries.
Data collection in Armenia included face-to-face interviews with 2,000 adults (18-64 years) and 37 industry experts. Interviews were conducted between April and June 2024.
The national report for Armenia consists of 8 chapters that present the overall level of entrepreneurship in the country and its distribution by population groups and economic sectors.
The report covers entrepreneurship and attitudes towards entrepreneurs, people’s motivation to start a business, the impact of business on the economy, informal investments, business exit processes, the use of artificial intelligence and digital tools in business, as well as the general business environment in Armenia.
